Central Market Agency (CMA) Scotland was in at the start of the opening up of the nondomestic water industry in Scotland. Its role is to administer the market for water waste and water retail services in Scotland.

Chief executive Jeremy Atkinson says: "We maintain a database that holds a record of every supply point in Scotland. For each supply point, there is information attached to it such as the size of the connection and the services it receives.

"But also, critically, there is a record of which provider is serving that supply point."

The other function of the organisation-which is independent - is to calculate the wholesale charges that are owed by each licensed provider to Scottish Water, aggregating the charge up for every supply point held by a particular retailer.

As a result of that, a notification is sent to the retailer and Scottish Water informing them of how much the retailer owes.

According to Atkinson, CMA Scotland had to hit the ground running by being ready on day one, even when Business Stream was the only retailer, to carry out its core functions.

"And we were,"he gushes. "It was a source of pride to everybody involved that the market started on time. There was no delay."

The task Atkinson and his team was given was huge with a very tough objective. He was asked to build a small, efficient organisation capable of punching above its weight and carrying out some key activities in the market.

"On the one hand, we had to be lean and not too expensive because participants pay and we achieved that,"he explains.

"But on the other hand, we had to be reliable and deliver a quality service.

"The first year has been about getting ourselves in a position to do that. The way we have done it is by developing well-documented and sound business processes, getting the right calibre of people on board in the organisation and getting the right calibre of advice.

"As a result of all the things we've learnt over the year, we now have a body of experience that would be absolutely invaluable to any other jurisdictions were they to embark on a similar project."